Accident
by Ruyax
Summary: They were just training. It was normal. And then it wasn't. For Neji and Tenten, training is always dangerous, but today it turns deadly.


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**I don't really know why I'm posting this. I was going through my old fanfic stuff and I found it and I don't know. **

**I had to fix the tenses, though. They were all over the place. It was evil. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Accident

It almost looked like they were dancing. Today, Neji and Tenten had decided on close combat, but it was so close they were nearly brushing noses. Their movements were lightning-fast, and there was no sound except for their panting breath, the soft swishes of fabric as one lunged and the other recoiled, spinning, twisting, lashing out, one with razor-sharp steel – only shuriken and kunai today, but no less dangerous in her hands – the other with empty palms, misleadingly unarmed, but just as deadly as a sword.

They moved so fast, flashing from one attack to the next, blending together in a seamless, fluid series of movements, that the instant where everything turned for the worse could easily have been missed.

Tenten attacked, Neji blocked. She attacked again, but changed direction so suddenly that Neji was surprised – he had been sort of "in the zone" and hadn't expected a feint – he should have, he should have been paying more attention, because that moment was when it all went wrong. Tenten switched tactics and Neji was startled and struck with just a little more chakra than he meant to. And that was it.

He hit her just to the left of her heart, in the center of her chest. Her eyes widened in shock, and then the pain hit her. As she crumpled to the ground, he realized what had just happened; what he had just done.

"_Tenten!"_

Neji fell to his knees beside her. His partner, his best friend, lay on her back, eyes wide, gasping for breath, back arching off the ground. One hand clawed at the ground, spasming in shock and pain.

For a moment, Neji's brain blanked. He couldn't think, could barely breathe, could only watch in horror as the technique he had used so often on enemies worked its dark magic on his closest friend.

Then the fuses connected and he thought, _this is my fault, fix it fix it fix it._

He tore her shirt open – screw modesty, she was _dying_ in front of him – and used one hand to hold her down and still. It hurt him to see her in such pain, and he could only whisper, _"It's okay, it's okay, hang on, Tenten, just a minute and you'll be fine,"_ words that meant nothing but he had to talk, had to talk to her, and damn it he was so damn _scared_ at what he'd done, his heart was racing but he knew he could fix everything if he did it right.

"_Byakugan,"_ and then he could see the havoc he'd wreaked on her body. Her heart stuttered and her lungs struggled to draw in air, the chakra pathways damaged or weak or stopped up altogether. He channeled just the right amount of chakra into his fingertips and tried to stop the shaking of his hand as he lay it on Tenten's chest, directing healing energy through the train wreck he'd made of her body, rearranging chakra, unblocking pathways, fixing and organizing and putting all the pieces back together.

And then he was done, and she fell back to the ground and her hands unclenched and her eyes slid shut, tears making wet tracks down her temples and she _breathed._ In and out, in and out, deep breaths, and Neji could see that she would be okay, and he nearly started crying too. The shaking came back to his hands, and his breath hitched a little as he reached out to brush the hair off her sweaty forehead. Dark, chocolate eyes opened slowly and met his, and all he could do was say, _"I'm sorry,"_ and know that it was not enough.

She knew how he thought – by this point, they know each other inside and out – and by then she had put it all together and figured out what had happened, and she reached out and lay her hand on top of his. She didn't speak – in all honesty, she didn't think she could, not yet, at least – but her eyes said everything. _I don't blame you._

* * *

Fifteen minutes later found Neji walking to Tenten's apartment, the weapons mistress limp in his arms. They had quickly discovered that she could barely move – not that Neji would have let her walk home on her own.

They reached her door and, under Tenten's direction, Neji searched her pockets until he found the key and unlocked the door. She could still hardly lift her arms. He carried her inside and lay her down as gently as he could on the couch. Alhough she tried to hide it, he could see the pain in her eyes.

"Do you want some water?" It was the first time either of them had spoken since they left the training ground. Tenten nodded and Neji left her – albeit somewhat reluctantly – to go into the kitchen.

He returned a minute later, a glass of water in one hand, and found the wounded weapons mistress asleep, in exactly the same position he left her. He carried her to her room, where she could sleep on the bed and be more comfortable. _More comfortable,_ he though bitterly. _She won't be comfortable tomorrow. That kind of strike, even with the repairs I made, will leave one hell of a bruise._ The guilt ate away at him, and his heart clenched, remembering her limp form on the ground, gasping, dying, all because of him.

_Goodnight, Tenten. One day, I'll be better than this. I don't know what I'd do without you. And I pray to every god I know that I'll never have to figure it out. _

* * *

Tenten recovered, eventually. No one noticed that she was just a little more cautions in her movements, moved just a little slower, paused sometimes to catch her breath in the days following the accident. If anyone had seen her shirtless – not that anyone ever really did – they would have been shocked at the bruise, larger than an outspread hand, that covered her chest. She took care to avoid the sleeveless Chinese tops she often favored, just to make sure.

She didn't blame him. This was not his fault. They both knew the dangers of their training style – so much sharp steel and such fast hands full of deadly chakra. It was a miracle that they survived each day, just with each other as opponents. Tenten had hit Neji before – a kunai to the shoulder, a shuriken graze across the cheek – and she had hated herself for it each time. It was his one weakness – that damned blind spot, the Achilles heel of the virtually invincible Byakugan.

But her? She was normal, or at least somewhat. She had no special jutsus, no clan ability passed down through generations – hell, she didn't even have a family! She just happened to like sharp things and objects that had a tendency to explode. It was all Neji's doing that she'd never gotten anything bad during training. He would hit her, sure, but on points that wouldn't do much except make her numb for a while, and a little sore later. The bruises had certainly been something to explain to her friends. But he controlled himself, just like she controlled herself, and he had never done anything serious until the day when he did one thing and she did another and the results were nearly fatal. And he had blamed himself ever since.

_It's just as much my fault as it is his. I didn't react quickly enough, I didn't read his reaction well enough, I didn't think fast enough. It's my fault too._

* * *

After the accident, their training was a little more careful, a little slower, a little more watchful. It took time, but they eventually built up their speed until they were back to the lightning-fast, violent battlegame that they used to have, sometimes even faster, more dangerous. The dance of death continued, because really, what else could they do? She's fire, he's ice, and there is no stopping them. The accident was just an obstacle they had to overcome. Any weakness has to be dealt with, or at least has to have a plan made to guard against it. Someday, they will be invincible, Neji and Tenten. Someday, there will be no accidents. Just fire and steel and deadly, lightning-fast hands with palms cupped full of fatal air.

Someday.

* * *

**And now I want to cry. Dammit, Neji! Why, why, WHY? **

**And what the hell? Really? Tenten does nothing at all? Thank you very much Kishimoto, you have just destroyed one of my all-time favorite pairings. I am crushed. So much for someday. **

**I wrote this like a way long time ago. And then I just reread it and oh my gosh what the heck I am so depressed now. **

**Sorry 'bout that. I'd like to see what people think about this one, though. It came to me out of nowhere and somehow made some sense, so I just threw everything out the window and wrote it. So if you liked it, review. **

**Thank you! (goes to find some happy nejiten stuff)**

**- Ruyax**


End file.
